Talking-machine



R. W. HORTON.

TALKING MACHINE.

APPLICATION man APH.27,19?Qf Patented May 23, 1921.,

2 'SHEETSSHEET I.

R. w. HORTON.

TALKING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED APVLZY, I920.

Patented May 3, 1921.

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RICHARD WILLIAM HORTON, OF LONDON, ENGLAND, ASSIGNOR TD BARNETT SAMUEL & SONS, LIMITED, OF LONDON, ENGLMID.

TALKING-MACHINE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented ay a, 1921.

Application filed April .27, 1920. Serial No. 377,054. I

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, RICHARD WILLIAM HORTON, a subject of the King of Great Britain and Ireland, residing at London, England, have invented certain new and useful Improvementsin Talking-Machines, of which the following is a specification.

Talking and like sound reproducing machines are sometimes grouped in two classes v(a) born (6) cabinet inclosed horn, the former having an exposed horn exterlor to the cabinet, and the latter the equivalent of a horn in the form of a flared conduit concealed within the cabinet and delivering the sound through an aperture in the cabinet below the level of the driving mechanism.

Most inclosed horn instruments are defective, the volume of reproduction suffering, due to the short horn or'equivalent used in order to render the cabinet compact.

Attempts have been made to increase the volume by the use of a long conduit termin'ating in a wide flare delivering the sound to an aperture at thebottom of a deep oabinet, but the sound aperture in such a case being near the ground did not emit thesound in a suitable plane for the listener. It has been suggested to deflect the sound from the flared end of the conduit in an upward direction by means of a curved deflector fitted in I a drawer which had to be withdrawn more or less for the purpose.

Again, in another suggestion a long flared conduit was curved first downward and then upward.

Such expedients are cumbersome and costly.

Moreover, although talking machines of the inclosed horn type referred to, emit the sound from the aperture in front of the cabinet, they present the difliculty to the designer of cabinets, that he is compelled to work to certainfixed limits, so that it has been impossible, for instance, to install a talking machine in an existing piece of old furniture, unless it happened to have a door or drawer in the front preclsely in the position required for adaptation as a sound aperture.

In recent years a species of inclosed horn talking machines has been introduced in which the sound arm is provided with an extension or amplifier, the mouth of which is situated'opposite to a sound deflector fitted in the lid of the cabinet (see U. S. Patent No. 1,239,305, Sept. 4, 1917) or fitted in the rear or sides of the cabinet. When the deflector is in the lid it deflects the sound to the front, namely toward the hearer, but the arrangement precludes the possibility. of closing the lid when the machine is played for the purpose of reducing the sounds due to needle scratch and other surface noises, while'in the case where the deflector is in the rear or sides, the instrument has to be turned around to deflect the sound toward the hearer, in which case the manipulation of the instrument by the user is not so convenient.

The sound distributing means of the species of inclosed horn talking machines above referred to is hereinafter termed, for convenience, sound distributing means of the deflector type, because the sound waves discharged by the sound conduit are actually deflected by the deflector after leaving themouth or amplifier of the sound conduit.

Now the object of the present invention is threefold (l) to emit the sound from an aperturein the front of the cabinet (2) to have the aperture at a high level and (3) to insure good volume .of sound.

It is also desired to facilitate the fitting of talking machines to articles of furniture, while still attaining the above mentioned threefold object. 4

According to the invention a cabinet talking machine having a sound emitting aperture in the front of the cabinet is fitted therein with sound distributing means of the deflector type connected to the sound arm of the reproducer by a relatively long and narrow pipe,

The'inventio'n also comprises modifications and' adaptations hereinafter referred to.

In-the accompanying drawings:

Figures 1, 2, and 3 are respectively, a

a sectional plan illustrating one application of the invention to a talking machine cabinet of ordinary rectangular prismatic form.

Fig. 4 is a perspective view illustrating an application of the invention to an existing piece of furniture namely, a writing table having a top of comparatively shallow depth.

Fig. 5 is a side sectional elevation on the lines V-IV, VV, Fig. 4.

Fig. 6 is a sectional plan of a modified form of deflector.

In one form of the invention as illustrated by Figs. 1 to 3 a talking machine cabinet 1, has a sound emitting aperture 16 in the front thereof fitted with a sound deflector 2, preferably of Swiss pine or belly wood and of substantially pyramidal form.

A sound conduit 3 which may be a tube of parallel or tapered form, preferably of circular or oval cross section and. of suitable material such as cast iron, vulcanite, compressed fiber, or the like, is led from the sound arm 4 of the talking machine to the rear of the deflector- 2. The sound conduit 3 passesithrough the center of the deflector 2 from t e rear to the front where it is fitted with a duplex born or pair of amplifiers 5 of vulcanite or other suitable material. Each amplifier 5 is directed toward orle of the inclined surfaces 17 of the deflector 2 and so that its mouth is preferably parallel with and suitably spaced from the surface. By this means the sound waves are adequately directed on to two inclined surfaces 17 of the deflector, and as the surfaces 17 can beset at a relatively wide obtuse angle. cilicient distribution over a wide angle of deflection is insured. The stem 6 of the duplex amplifier 5 is connected conveniently to the sound tube 3 by a screwed socket 7 locked by a nut 8.

It will be noticed that with the deflector 2 in the front of the cabinet the winding handle 9 for the talking machine motor 10 is on the right hand side adapted for winding in a clockwise direction, so that the reproducer is in the most convenient position to be manipulated from the front of the cabinet.

The invention does not necessitate the deflectorbeing placed in any particular position in the front of the cabinet, as the sound conduit between it and the sound arm of the talking machine may be curved or otherwise adapted to suit the particular form and di mensions of the cabinet within wide limits, it being desirable to avoid sharp angles in the conduit; for example, Fig. 4 illustrate an application to an existing piece of furniture, namely, a writing table 11, the talking machine motor 10 being accommodated in a space -in the right hand side otherwise occupied by a drawer 12, the front of which may be fixed, while the sound tube is led on evon-so gentle curves to the deflector 2 arranged behind the front 13 of the middle drawer which front is conveniently divided and hinged so that it may be opened readily to expose the deflector when required.

A removable panel 1% permits of access to the talking machine turn-table, while the left hand drawer 15 may be retained for storage of record disks. When the talking machine is not in use the table retains its normal appearance.

The deflector :2 is fitted the front of the table with the motor winding handle 9 at the right hand side adapted for winding in a clockwise direction and. the sound arm passing from rear to front, so that the reproducer is in the normal as well as the msii O o O convenient position to be manipulated has] the front of the table.

The invention is not limited to any pai ticular number of deflecting surfaces or horns or amplifiers, the deflector having a corresponding number of inclined panels or deflecting surfaces, each amplifier being directed toward one of the panels.

A l')lllI21lli,:/ of amplifiers is desirable with a long sound conduit.

The inclined surfaces or panels of the deflector may be merged gently into one are other so that the deflector presents a smooth or continuous surface-as shown in Fig. '6.

The term talking machine is used in the t "ade sense to include machines for reproducing musical sounds as well as speech.

I claim:

l. A talking machine having a sound deflector of independent anculariy related surfaces, and a sound amplifier l'iaving independent outlets directing the sound respectively against the angularly related surfaces of the deflector.

2. A talking machine having a sound de flector of independent angularly related surfaces, a sound amplifier receiving the sound from a single source and having independ' ent discharge openings each cooperating with one of said surfaces the deflector.

r. talking machine having a unit sound deflector of independent spaced surfaces,

and. a sound amplifier including a series of sound discharge members, the respective sound discharge members delivering the sound onto the respective surfaces of the deflector.

A talking on. chine having a sound detlector formed with two angularly related and independent surfaces, and an amplifier including independent horn-like discharge members arranged for respectively delivering the sound directly onto the respective angularly related surfaces of the deflector.

5. Means for distributing the sound from. the front of a talking machine cabinet, conr prising a concave having a plurality of inclined surfaces, an amplifier within said deflector having a plurality of horns, each horn having a mouth opposed to an inclined surface of such deflector, and a stem for said amplifier passing through the deflector for connection to the sound conduit of the talking machine.

(5. Means for distributing the sound from the front of a talking machine cabinet, comprising a concave deflector having a plurality of diverging surfaces, an amplifier within said deflector having a plurality of horns, each having a mouth opposed to one of said diverging surfaces, and a stem for said amplifier common to all the horns thereof and passing centrally through said deflector for connection at the rear thereof to the sound conduit of the talking machine.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in the presence of 20 two subscribing witnesses.

RICHARD WILLIAM HUI- TON Witnesses (l, S. SAMUEL, ALF. E. ANDREWS. 

